Tried the Duvel last night. Very nice, strong aroma. One of the most carbonated beers I have ever drank. Even when holding the glass at the shallowest of angles, it still produced a big, foamy head that refused to go down (yes, yes, run off to QooC with that). Flavor is unique. It's distinctly got that complex, slightly untamed ale flavor going on, but it also has distinct flavors of sparkling wine and lager, probably due to the secondary, cold fermentation. Its color is even more like a lager than an ale. This would be a great beer for introducing ales to someone whose been a solely lager drinker.

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

One and half bottle of Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale for the beef pot pie, half a bottle for me...

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

Had a bottle of Geuze Boon, a lambic, tonight. This is the most champagne-like beer I've ever had. Has a tart sourness, with practically no hoppiness. Really develops on the tongue with all those wild yeasts.

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

^ That sounds nice, PK. Champagne beer. Mmmm. On the topic of beer, I was wondering how much a pint of beer costs in the States. Over here in Blighty, ignoring special offers, beer generally costs from around £2.80 (AK - Nice mild ale/bitter) to around £4 for something like Peroni or LItovel, as I previously mentioned. I suppose the average for a pint that I pay is about £3.50 in London, as that's where I drink mostly. At the current exchange rate, that's $4.43 to $6.33, with the average around $5.53. I know prices must vary wildly over the States, as they do here, but i'm curious to see by how much.

Roland Deschain - Half prophet, half gunslinger, all Pastafarian!

"Since Alexander Pearce escaped, over 250 people have disappeared in the Tasmanian wilderness. No remains have ever been found." - Dying Breed

Roland Deschain wrote:Over here in Blighty, ignoring special offers, beer generally costs from around £2.80 (AK - Nice mild ale/bitter) to around £4 for something like Peroni or LItovel, as I previously mentioned.

It depends where you are and what pub you're drinking in. You're clearly in London, £4 a pint for lager! Round here you can expect to pay about £2.50 for a cheap bitter/lager in most pubs. In Wetherspoons you can pick up some good bargains like Ruddles ale (a really quite nice beer) which can be had for £1.50 a pint I remember Bristol as being cheaper but that might just have been student nights in dingy clubs.

I am biased towards Spoons though as it's cheap, does decent food, has a really cute barmaid and there's an ale festival on at the moment with loads of dark beers There's a few American beers they've put on (proper beer, not rice-based dishwater) and they're rather pleasant if a bit thin.

A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything - Friedrich Nietzsche

The great thing about Beaker is his ability to provoke while still being decorous, or at least within acceptable rules of conduct - Qwertyuiopasd

Actually, I don't really go out for a pint very often. Typically I have a beer with or right after dinner, so if I'm drinking out it's at a resaurant. That being said, I looked at the listed prices for a few places around here that serve good beer, and they seem to range in price from $5-7 (£3-4.50). Mind you, you could probably get a pint's worth of crappy, commercial, beer-flavored water for much less.

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

I see it's fairly similar pricing between your local area and mine, PK. That's interesting to know if I ever visit the US someday in the future. Helps with the 'ole budget

DB, I love Weatherspoon's for the same reason. There's one down the road from me, and they do cheap beer in there as well as guest ales. The problem is that my friends all live distances away from me, and the nearest ones aren't drinking people, so this means I hardly ever go out drinking in my local area. I used to go to a Weatherspoon's in Palmer's Green, as it's close to a couple of mates there, but one's moved to West London and the other's moved to Frankfurt (he was going to offer me a job there, but the economic climate has forced changes in his office, FSMdamnit!).

Roland Deschain - Half prophet, half gunslinger, all Pastafarian!

"Since Alexander Pearce escaped, over 250 people have disappeared in the Tasmanian wilderness. No remains have ever been found." - Dying Breed

I've been getting merrily pissed on Kalamazoo for the last week or so. If you imagine Guinness that hasn't been looked after properly and tastes rather acidic but now think that's how it's meant to taste you'll have some idea. Really quite nice but I mainly like it for the joy of asking for a kalamazoo

Also, the cute barmaids are subject to availability in participating free houses.

A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything - Friedrich Nietzsche

The great thing about Beaker is his ability to provoke while still being decorous, or at least within acceptable rules of conduct - Qwertyuiopasd

Had some Weihenstephan Hefeweissbier Dunkel tonight. It's a Hefeweizen made with dark malts. It's a bit surprising; on first taste you get that burnt dark malt flavor, but instead of getting the stout or ale flavor that usually accompanies dark malts, you get the wheat flavor. They play together well, it imparts an unique sweetness on the beer.

Under the bizarre, antiquated naming system mandated by the TABC Code, we have to call everything we brew over 4% alcohol by weight (ABW) “Ale” or “Malt Liquor” and everything we brew at or below 4% ABW “beer”. This results in nonsensical and somewhat comical situations where we have to call pale ale at or below 4% ABW “pale beer” and lager that is over 4% ABW “ale”. The State has arrogantly and autocratically cast aside centuries of rich brewing tradition by taking it upon itself to redefine terms that reference flavor and production method as a simple shorthand for alcoholic strength...

Our claim under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, maintains that breweries, like wineries, should be able to sell their products directly to the public. Right now in Texas, we cannot sell our beer at our brewery. We can only sell beer through a retailer or distributor. When people visit Jester King and ask to buy our beer, we have to tell them, “Sorry, that’s illegal.” Brewpubs are faced with an equal and opposite restriction. They can sell beer on-site, but cannot sell beer through a retailer or distributor. Texas wineries on the other hand are allowed to sell on-site and through retailers and distributors. We are suing because the State has no rational interest in maintaining special restrictions aimed at limiting the sale of beer.

Glad to see these pointless relics of prohibition being taken down.

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical or cruel; but I am, so that's how it comes out." ~ Bill Hicks."To argue with a person who has renounced reason is like administering medicine to the dead." ~ Thomas Paine."One should not believe everything one reads on the internet." ~ Abraham Lincoln."If you're making a political point wearing a balaclava, you're a c***. It was true for the IRA and it's true now." ~ daftbeaker.

That beer sounds nice. I had something similar a while ago. It was a Dunkel, I think, but I can't be sure. I just remember it being a guest bottle in my ex-local bar, and trying a few bottles. Man, that was nice. What's with that law, anyway? You'd think that 80 years would be enough to rid a country of those relics, but not at all. Politicians have some really weird ideas, sometimes. Ok, most of the time.

Roy Hunter wrote:

muunleit wrote:Beer

Thank you for that substantive and informative post.

I stand in defence of munnleit here. He comes from a land full of amazing beers and lagers, so is excused this time. Just look at the recommendations in this thread.

Roland Deschain - Half prophet, half gunslinger, all Pastafarian!

"Since Alexander Pearce escaped, over 250 people have disappeared in the Tasmanian wilderness. No remains have ever been found." - Dying Breed